Anyone here of LS3 engine oil leak at oil pan gasket?
01-12-2012, 05:19 PM
#21
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Sorry to say but my 2008 has the dreaded oil pan leak. Dont know where to take it for repair. The dealer I purchased it from is not very competent. Going to take a wait an see approach. Any thoughts I live south of the Boston area.
01-12-2012, 05:22 PM
#22
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leaky oil pan
Sorry to say but my 2008 has the dreaded oil pan leak. Dont know where to take it for repair. The dealer I purchased it from is not very competent. Going to take a wait an see approach. Any thoughts I live south of the Boston area.
01-12-2012, 05:38 PM
#23
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Star lock washers.
I wonder how many of these "leaks" can be fixed by re-torquing the oil pan bolts? I know if I notice it on mine this is what I'll be trying first. If that doesn't work then I just may live with a little seepage. I don't feel it's worth giving it to the monkeys around here to try and fix it, would probably come back with five other things needing fixing and I'd be lucky if the leak was even fixed...lol
01-12-2012, 05:49 PM
#24
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After time!
The GM mechanic that repaired my oil pan leak said the factory puts silicone in the four corners of the gasket, then puts the gasket on the pan, lifts the pan/gasket up and attaches both to the oil pan flange on the block. What he does on these Camaro/C6 with LS3's leak repairs is clean the oil pan flange and applies a thin coat of silicone around the complete oil pan flange and puts the oil pan gasket in place on the siliconed oil pan flange. He then puts a thin bead of silicone around the complete oil pan flange on the bottom of the block. Then the oil pan with gasket is then put in place and torqued to spec. He lets it set overnight, then the next morning adds the Mobil1 and filled new AC Delco filter. Fires it up, check for initial leaks and then takes if for a short drive till the oil reaches normal running temp and brings it back for another look see. He hasn't had one leak yet after his fix.
Apparently the oil pan is initially installed with the aluminum pan gasket, that has an O ring around the inside perimeter of the gasket, with just the four dabs of silicone in the corners, then applied to the oil pan flange on the bottom of the block. You would think the soft oil pan gasket with O ring would be sufficienc, but apparently the spec oil pan bolt torque doesn't always make for a good, life long seal.
I still haven't read on this forum of a hand built LS3 leaking yet.
Apparently the oil pan is initially installed with the aluminum pan gasket, that has an O ring around the inside perimeter of the gasket, with just the four dabs of silicone in the corners, then applied to the oil pan flange on the bottom of the block. You would think the soft oil pan gasket with O ring would be sufficienc, but apparently the spec oil pan bolt torque doesn't always make for a good, life long seal.
I still haven't read on this forum of a hand built LS3 leaking yet.
01-12-2012, 06:08 PM
#25
A good automotive quality O-ring should never get hard. They're made of a silicon-type material, but forgot the weird name 
.
Anyway, how hard is to replace that gasket as a DIY job on a manual car? If there's nothing major to remove, I'd definitely attempt it myself, even if covered by warranty. As somebody said, every time my cars touch a dealer there're always scratches and scuffs that were supposedly there but weren't. I only bring my toys in when I absolutely have no choice, meaning it's something major in cost and/or labor. If less than $200 in parts, I deal with issues myself.
. Anyway, how hard is to replace that gasket as a DIY job on a manual car? If there's nothing major to remove, I'd definitely attempt it myself, even if covered by warranty. As somebody said, every time my cars touch a dealer there're always scratches and scuffs that were supposedly there but weren't. I only bring my toys in when I absolutely have no choice, meaning it's something major in cost and/or labor. If less than $200 in parts, I deal with issues myself.
01-12-2012, 09:25 PM
#26
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Amount other things, you have to lower the front suspension cross member and support the rear of the engine so it does not damage the front of dash (cowl). This is a job where a hoist comes in handy.
02-15-2013, 08:41 AM
#27
Intermediate
I just bought my 08 Coupe in September with 8500 miles on it. Perfect car, clean service record. After noticing oil on the pan recently and reading about a lot of other leaks I thought maybe I should get it checked out. My power train warranty is up in three days so I took it in yesterday. They replaced the gasket and all the bolts but the unusual thing about it is they found 2 bolts missing and another stripped out. I would think from this it would be wise to torque the bolts even with low miles, very strange..
02-15-2013, 09:27 AM
#28
Burning Brakes
Oil pan attachment gets special attention when we hand build the engines at Wixom. Before attaching the oil pan, the front and rear covers are set with an alignment plate to ensure they are at exact height of the cylinder block pan rail. Alignment plate stays on while front and rear covers are torqued.
Before oil pan is set in place the mating surfaces are cleaned with alcohol, then rtv sealant is applied at the "T" joints. The T joints are a likely leak path (where front or rear cover mates with the block and oil pan) so extra care is given there. So if by chance you remove your front or rear cover (maybe for a cam change) it is very critical to make sure you are still aligned to the oil pan height. Also we use a fixture to make sure front cover is centered to the crankshaft side to side.
When the oil pan bolts are torqued we do it in two steps and in a set order (starting in the center and working out). If memory serves me right the bolts are first torqued to 20 nm then 30 nm (torque is automatically set when bar code is scanned for operation). The two smaller bolts at the rear are set to a lower torque and are done last.
One more thing - when the pan is torqued it is clamped to a fixture that insures that the rear face of the oil pan is perfectly aligned to the rear face of cylinder block in fore/aft direction. This is required by engineers and we use a digital micrometer to measure alignment.
May your pan always be dry!
Before oil pan is set in place the mating surfaces are cleaned with alcohol, then rtv sealant is applied at the "T" joints. The T joints are a likely leak path (where front or rear cover mates with the block and oil pan) so extra care is given there. So if by chance you remove your front or rear cover (maybe for a cam change) it is very critical to make sure you are still aligned to the oil pan height. Also we use a fixture to make sure front cover is centered to the crankshaft side to side.
When the oil pan bolts are torqued we do it in two steps and in a set order (starting in the center and working out). If memory serves me right the bolts are first torqued to 20 nm then 30 nm (torque is automatically set when bar code is scanned for operation). The two smaller bolts at the rear are set to a lower torque and are done last.
One more thing - when the pan is torqued it is clamped to a fixture that insures that the rear face of the oil pan is perfectly aligned to the rear face of cylinder block in fore/aft direction. This is required by engineers and we use a digital micrometer to measure alignment.
May your pan always be dry!
Last edited by eaglei; 02-16-2013 at 08:12 AM. Reason: Mention rear fixture
02-15-2013, 09:39 AM
#29
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St. Jude Donor '13
Nice writeup, thanks.
It would be interesting to know if the leaks that develop in use are from improper assembly in mass production, different design of the wet sump, poor gasket design (I've been told the replacment gaskets are a different color), or something else.
It would be interesting to know if the leaks that develop in use are from improper assembly in mass production, different design of the wet sump, poor gasket design (I've been told the replacment gaskets are a different color), or something else.
02-15-2013, 10:39 AM
#30
Team Owner
I wonder how many of these "leaks" can be fixed by re-torquing the oil pan bolts? I know if I notice it on mine this is what I'll be trying first. If that doesn't work then I just may live with a little seepage. I don't feel it's worth giving it to the monkeys around here to try and fix it, would probably come back with five other things needing fixing and I'd be lucky if the leak was even fixed...lol
Oil pan attachment gets special attention when we hand build the engines at Wixom. Before attaching the oil pan, the front and rear covers are set with an alignment plate to ensure they are at exact height of the cylinder block pan rail. Alignment plate stays on while front and rear covers are torqued.
Before oil pan is set in place the mating surfaces are cleaned with alcohol, then rtv sealant is applied at the "T" joints. The T joints are a likely leak path (where front or rear cover mates with the block and oil pan) so extra care is given there. So if by chance you remove your front or rear cover (maybe for a cam change) it is very critical to make sure you are still aligned to the oil pan height. Also we use a fixture to make sure front cover is centered to the crankshaft side to side.
When the oil pan bolts are torqued we do it in two steps and in a set order (starting in the center and working out). If memory serves me right the bolts are first torqued to 20 nm then 30 nm (torque is automatically set when bar code is scanned for operation). The two smaller bolts at the rear are set to a lower torque and are done last.
May your pan always be dry!
Before oil pan is set in place the mating surfaces are cleaned with alcohol, then rtv sealant is applied at the "T" joints. The T joints are a likely leak path (where front or rear cover mates with the block and oil pan) so extra care is given there. So if by chance you remove your front or rear cover (maybe for a cam change) it is very critical to make sure you are still aligned to the oil pan height. Also we use a fixture to make sure front cover is centered to the crankshaft side to side.
When the oil pan bolts are torqued we do it in two steps and in a set order (starting in the center and working out). If memory serves me right the bolts are first torqued to 20 nm then 30 nm (torque is automatically set when bar code is scanned for operation). The two smaller bolts at the rear are set to a lower torque and are done last.
May your pan always be dry!
02-15-2013, 04:13 PM
#33
Race Director
I wonder how many of these "leaks" can be fixed by re-torquing the oil pan bolts? I know if I notice it on mine this is what I'll be trying first. If that doesn't work then I just may live with a little seepage. I don't feel it's worth giving it to the monkeys around here to try and fix it, would probably come back with five other things needing fixing and I'd be lucky if the leak was even fixed...lol
